Stadsmuseum ’t Schippershof

About the museum

’t Schippershof is a historic coaching inn from the 17th and 18th centuries by the old Leie bridge in the centre of Menen. The inn served as a resting place for bargemen and for the horses that pulled the barges on the Leie. The building is one of the last witnesses to the rise of the town as a trading centre at the crossroads of the Leie and the road from Bruges to Lille. During the First World War it functioned as a kind of mini barracks for the army, barely 11 km from the front. The building has been a protected monument since 1991.

The sculptor Georges Dobbels (1910-1988) grew up in the house. The Menen city council bought the property in 1986 and 1987 to set up a city museum there, partly because Dobbels and the artist Yvonne Serruys (1873-1953) had bequeathed their work to the town. The museum was set up in the restored building between 1996 and 1998.

The museum holds bequests of Menen artists: romantic sculptures and impressionist paintings by Yvonne Serruys and modern sculptures by Georges Dobbels, supplemented by paintings by Alfred Wallecan and sculptures by Johan Tahon, honorary citizen of Menen. Since 2016 the museum has shown temporary exhibitions, often of visual art and regularly with a link to Menen, often in dialogue with CC De Steiger. In summer 2024 the museum, together with the museum café, received a thorough upgrade, with an interactive wall with tourist information in the entrance and a terrace for walkers and cyclists.

Highlights

• Protected 17th- and 18th-century coaching inn on the Leie in the centre of Menen
• Bequest of Yvonne Serruys with romantic sculptures and impressionist paintings
• Modern sculptures by Georges Dobbels, who grew up in the house
• Paintings by Alfred Wallecan and sculptures by Johan Tahon
• Interactive wall with tourist information and museum café with terrace

Operated by

Stad Menen (met CC De Steiger)

Admission & discounts

The museum hasn’t published any information on this.

Accessibility

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Kids & families

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Getting there & parking

The museum is in the centre of Menen, on the same square as CC De Steiger.

Amenities & dining

• Café

The museum café has a terrace with a water fountain, a picnic area and a bicycle repair point for walkers and cyclists.

Events & venue rental

The museum hasn’t published any information on this.

Plan your visit